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E-commerce giant eBay pulled down listings from its biggest trading card seller, PWCC Marketplace, following claims of shill bidding.
PWCC has likely generated at least $200 million worth of gross sales on eBay in the last year, per Action Network.
“Shill bidding,” a form of auction fraud, is the act of bidding on one’s own item to increase its price, desirability, or search standing. PWCC refuted eBay’s claim, saying the platform never presented any evidence.
- eBay’s “State of Trading Cards” report revealed a 142% increase in domestic sales in 2020 compared to 2019.
- Nearly all of its sports cards categories experienced growth in 2020, but soccer increased 1,586% and basketball 373% year-over-year.
- More than 4 million cards were sold on eBay last year.
PWCC has been at the center of controversy in the past.
In 2019, the Oregon-based company worked with law enforcement to investigate the sale of altered vintage cards through its service. PWCC later ended its relationship with the dealer implicated in the allegations.
On Tuesday, PWCC had 17,879 live auctions available for bid on eBay. That number fell to zero in less than 24 hours.
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